My life hit me hard! I can't take it anymore, how much more should I suffer like this, I'm leading a miserable life, mumble the old man while sitting under the tree. suddenly a voice asked from behind, "did life hit you hard"? the old man now trembles and looks behind him he saw no one soon enough the voice was heard again, "what happened old man, you seem so dull,"? the old man asked the tree "did you just speak to me"? the tree replied, "yes"! the old man thought he was dreaming and pinched himself, the tree asks again "what happened old man"? the old man came back to his senses and replied" yes, life has been so miserable for me that I can't move on...my beautiful wife she passed away my sons and daughters left me. I don't know whether they will come to see me when I close my eyes, I had a beautiful life with my wife she never complained we lived with whatever we had. now that she left me I feel so lonely and confused we had the love of old his eyes was filled with tears, the tree just listened to the story of the old man. after few minutes the tree said, " my life also hit hard" the old man chuckled and said, " what do you know about life, are you crazy,"? the tree got a little annoyed and said," if life got you hard so did mine too," the old man said," okay tell me your story,". the tree narrated its story, it asked the old man, " have you felt the scorching sun straight on you and felt like you lost all your energy at a second, the dry wind, the hot wind, the dry sand, the sand storm, the waterless ground, the heavy rain, the withered leaves, the dry leaves, the broken branches, the scars of love embarked in me for others remembrances, sometimes I try to breathe so hard for myself so that I make sure you people live, my life is in constant fear because one day you'll cut me or I'll die without water. the tree said to the old man I'm already too old for this, life is really hard but you know what makes me feel strong? it's my roots, it had good nourishment when it was small, it hurt the roots cause it needs to go so deep so that I can live so strong. the tree finished the story. the old man stood speechless, the tree said to the old man before you leave I want you to understand, that is I'm old and withered not having much of fresh leaves to give you shade, but you know what I'll never die and so do you because there is a place called Eternity.

© Katherine Phebe